It's all good cloud, pretty sure I didn't say a single word about defunding or hating on NASA. You can take the Gil Scott as a suggestion for doing so, but it's really a comment about dreaming and myopia. See if you are sick, live in the ghetto, and don't have access to good health care it doesn't really mean shit that we are going into space. Some people dream of exploring the universe and others would just like to see that thier family can see a doctor who cares.

Tyson paints a vision for a society crumbing, in decay and dreamless. He is way over top and full of shit. There are lots of really profound ways we could spend our money that would make huge differences in our health, wealth, education and understanding of our world, but Tyson only myopically see an almost apocalyptic decay of our fundamental state because his pet bullshit isn't being funded.

On the other hand, Gill's sister has been bitten on the hand by a rat, they can't get a doctor who gives a shit to care for her, his taxes and rent are higher then ever while his environment is a shitty ghetto. News is that a white guy just landed on the moon and America is the greatest place ever, Gill says fuck that shit. It's a much more personal and I think reasonable personal bit of observation.

I've actually followed the Long Now project a bit over the years and yea it's cool.

Private space is going to get us our lowest $/kilo orbit price yet, it's because it's private that $/kilo is getting a big emphasis. You may poo-paw private space, but the lower that number goes the better off all future space exploration is going to be. Private space is going to make space a tourist destination, what better way to get people interested in space then allowing em to go there.

Generally when an endeavor or service alternates between forces public and private, both spheres see benefit. Does NASA need to worry about the work a day effort of getting stuff into orbit? or is that better left to private industry who will push down prices more aggressively? Let NASA spend their dollars sending shit to mars or the moons and building better telescopes. It isn't a competition. Sure money spent on science is well spent, you probably won't be able to convince me that a NASA dollar is better then many of the other dollars we could be spending on science but oh well. As far as Tyson goes, I have an irrational hatred of the guy, hated him from the first time I heard him speak, hate him today. He is always over the top and generally full of shit when he talks about policy. Sure in the minutia of science is cool and funding it is good he is right, but his rhetoric, his vests, his ties and his myopic passion all put me off.